Software

Never one to turn down free stuff, I agreed greedily eagerly when Alex Doman offered me a review copy of
Brain Builder - the brain-training software from Advanced Brain Technologies.

The company doesn’t have any online demos available yet (and I was too lazy busy to fully check out their site in advance) so when the delivery guy handed me the box, I wasn’t really sure what to expect.

It was a brain-training blind date.

First impressions count in blind dates, and Brain Builder hit a home run; it showed up wearing a real box and shrink wrapped jewel cases for the CD (the software equivalent of a sports coat) and it was bearing romantic gifts!

What more could a girl ask for?

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Writing is among the least expensive hobbies out there - so long as you focus on actual writing, and not tools, toys, seminars and other accoutrements that more often than not, keep us from writing. But it’s a rare aspiring writer who can resist the search for shiny new tools - and I found a few real gems this year.

1.

In fifth grade, Miss Duncan taught us to use index cards to take notes and organize our reports and papers. There was something immensely satisfying about moving those cards around just so… shifting a quote here, a notation there. As an adult, I’ve longed for a means of organizing my thoughts that way - hopefully one that accounted for my now-horrific hand writing.

So when I discovered this nifty little software program that works with virtual index cards that actually look like index cards, I got pretty excited. You can create piles of cards, move the piles within one another, re-order the cards, tag and sort the cards with keywords, color them, mark them according to the intensity of the scene, and so on.

It’s really quite cool.

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Thought I’d jot out a few notes on new products, before they slipped my mind:

IWantSandy is a niftyneato virtual reminder/personal assistant application.

Why mention Yet another Web2.0 reminder/task list program? ’cause this one is *different*. Instead of an application, you’re working with “Sandy”, your virtual assistant. And Sandy speaks your language, understanding your natural conversational tone. Send her an email asking her to “remind me to pick up the dry cleaning on Thursday” or “remember that the boss is allergic to perfumes”, and Sandy will she’ll sort the info into the right category, add it to a to-do list, set appointments, confirm it, and send you (and your contacts) a reminder according to your preferences.

This might be the organizational web-app I wind up actually using. Visit Sandy Now

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Coming Soon:

Mind Tweakingly Cool Stuff.

You may have noticed the new blog header (if not, look UP). There will be more gradual improvements ’round here as time goes on. I’m not planning a complete redesign right now, just a few fix-r-up projects.

You can also look forward to a new Mindtweaks Flash toy (silly fun), more info on the online courses I have in development, and the end (I promise) of the Enlightenment-Neurogenesis/Eckhart-Oprah series.

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inpowr:
Personal development goal setter, tracker, planner.

Most goal trackers are very concrete, left brained sorts of things that suit linear/business goals. But Inpowr centers around how you feel. It starts off with questions to help you evaluate your satisfaction in several areas of life, then helps you set, follow and track goals. It’s still in pretty early beta, but it looks interesting. Check it out at inpowr.com

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Brain Rules:
Applied brain-science, made readable.

My copy of the book/DVD arrived this weekend, and I’m even more impressed than I’d expected.

This is the book I’d have written if I had the science chops, more insight and a better sense of humor. Lots more info is coming soon, but soon, I’m too busy reading it to write about it just now. While I’m finishing that, go check out the videos available at the Brain Rules website.

So there you have it.
Random Tweaky Goodness.

As regular readers know, lately I’ve embarked on a personal “fix my mind” regime. I’m only a few weeks into it, and there’s a definite perceived improvement in my alertness, focus, and concentration. The brain-fitness program Lumosity is most likely the major contributor.

But outside of the expected improvements in cognitive function, I’ve learned a few interesting tidbits from the experience. [click to continue...]

If you signed up for Lumosity’s free beta test program I posted about a while back, be sure check your Lumosity account for a *very* significant discount on their program.  

If you didn’t get in on their beta test, no worries.  They still offer a  Free 2 week trial period, and after which you can choose between their quite reasonable $9.95 monthly subscription, or purchase a year’s membership  for $79.95.

Oh looky. 

It’s a post under 100 words. Here on MindTweaks. Wow. 

How did THAT happen???

I must be sick.

Quick. We need a quotation.

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MindTWEAK: We never say so much as when we do not quite know what we want to say. We need few words when we have something to say, but all the words in the dictionary will not suffice when we have nothing to say and want desparately to say it.  - Eric Hoffer
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 (Whew. That’s better. I was worried there for a minute. I was afraid I was getting.. you know.. concise or something!)